"Come on, come on," Joshua muttered to himself. He was alone in his room, laying on his bed while he tried to join the game. "Launch time was three minutes ago! What kind of company keeps their customers waiting like this?"

*[i]beep[/i]*

Joshua's entire body went limp and he felt himself falling. He panicked for that brief moment, then grinned like a maniac.

[b]Welcome to Haven[/b]

He hit the floor in front of a mirror. "Braden Blade," he state aloud even as the NPC appeared beside the mirror. He turned to the looking glass, ignoring the pointless woman. All that reflected back was a grey, humanoid shape. "Mirror self, human," he said aloud. His image appeared in the glass before him, a frown growing on its face. "Darken the eyes a shade. Cut the hair. No, regrow the hair, but thinner and straight. Add a slight wave." He kept at it for some time until he was satisfied with his appearance.

His next statement was "Swordsman." A sword and basic equipment appeared on him. It wasn't much, but he did like the feel of it. A series of skill choices appeared for the Swordsman class. He picked out those he wanted--skills that would help his over-all agility rather than brute strength--and the menu vanished. "Finalize." A confident smirk tugged the corners of his mouth up as he raised his sword. The image in the mirror smirked back, right up until he slashed through it with the sword.

The world around him shattered and vanished. In place of the void was the plaza of a small village--Birth Village. Home of the newbie. Only a few other players had already appeared, but he frowned nonetheless; he'd taken too long on getting his appearance right, so others had a headstart. Braden drew the sword from his belt and gave it a few practice swings. He could feel the weight in his hand, felt it pulling his arm down to the ground. It was more weight than he was used to, but he was confident he could get used to it quickly. For the time being, he brought his left hand to the hilt as well to get a little extra support.

More people were appearing as they finished customizing their avatars. Elves, demons, fairies, and all sorts of other creatures were appearing around him. Braden pitied them in a way; no race had a special advantage, so any change was completely for aesthetics. Like they weren't comfortable with themselves as humans. Before it got too crowded, though, he needed to get outside and start training. The sooner he could get away from this over-crowded village, the better.